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ONMUAA NEWSLETTER
Vol (1) No. (3)
December 1996
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Table of Contents
1. Holiday Greetings ONMUAA-PO
2. News Brief
(1).26th Neuroscience Meeting Rende Gu
(2) ONMUAA First Survey Benquan Shen
(3) My visit to NMU Xin-Sheng Ding
3. Welcome to Ann Arbor Ning Jin
4. Career Development
(1) How to write a good resume Youcheng Liu
(2) NIH grant application Liangfeng Tao
(3) Job opportunity Youcheng Liu
5. Some jokes for Holidays Liangfeng Tao &
Youcheng Liu
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1.Holiday Greetings from ONMUAA President Office
Dear Alumni:
This is the warmest greetings from ONMUAA President Office to you and your
family!
To wish you a joyous Christmas and happiness throughout the coming year.
The President Office is also delighted to take the opportunity to thank all
of you for your mountainous support, endless efforts, and royal spirits.
Especially, we would like to thank those who continuously supported our
newsletter and directory, To thank the Governing Board members and
officers for their timely guidance and cooperation, to thank all our
directors who made our association moving forward steadily, to thank ...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
The President Office
ONMUAA
2. News brief
(1) 26th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience
There is a news about 26th Annual Meeting of Society for Neuroscience
which was hold from Nov. 16-21 in Washington D.C. There were several
ONMUAA alumni attending the meeting. Gu, Rende (MD 77) happened to
meet Zhang, Ge (MD 77), Lu, Ying (MD 77), Li, Zhiwei (MD 77), Wang,
Hong(MD 78), Fang, Fang (MD ?), Xiao, Peng(GD 85), Zhuang, Soyuan
(Faculty), Mu, Jian (Faculty). According to Xiao, Peng, he met Fang,
Xiemo (MD 78). Neuroscience Annual Meeting is a huge meeting. This
year, there were 12,537 abstracts, 18 symposia, 24 history of
neuroscience, 58 teaching of neurocsience abstracts in the meeting.
It's said about 25,000 scientists attending the meeting. Besides the
ONMUAA alumni mentioned above, there were still some ONMUAA alumni
attended the meeting.
Rende Gu (MD 77)
____________________________________________________________________
(2) First ONMUAA Survey Results
____________________________________________________________________
A couple of months ago, we launched a survey among our fellow members.
We appreciate everyone who have contributed their time, comments,
opinions and suggestions on how to run our Organization. Following
is the results of this survey.
1. Total returns: 45
By Department: MD: 22
PH: 16
DS: 2
NS: 1
GS: 3
FA: 1
By Country: U.S.A.: 40
Canada: 1
Australia: 2
Japan: 2
New Zealand:1
2. About communication:
E-mail: 45
Regular phone: 28
Fax: 20
Regular Mail: 25
WWW: 5
3. Research field:
Our members are involved in the areas of physiology and orthodontics;
Molecular epidemiology; Oncology; Molecular micro biology; Biostatistics
and epidemiology; Pharmaceuticals; Molecular and cellular biology;
Immunology; Pharmacolgy; Virology; Protein biochemistry; Neuroscience;
Environmental and occupational health.
4. About Directory:
Following numbers represnt the returns who wish to put these information
in the Directory
Name: 45; Sex: 10; Year of School: 45; Dept.: 45;
Home phone: 45; Home address: 42; Work phone: 45; Work address: 41; Fax: 42;
Web site: 3; Research field: 42.
5. About Organization work:
Like to do? Yes: 15; Not sure: 18; No answer: 12
These who have answered "yes" specifically like to work on:
Home page 5
Newsletter 6
Directory compiling 6
As Board members 4
Funding rasing 1
6. About donation to ONMUAA:
38 out of 45 returns would like to donate $5 to $ 100, most of them will
donate $20.
7. About information exchange:
Would like to see information about
Job hunting 42
Immigration/visa 5
Making friends 40
Information about NMU 43
Living in oversea 38
Education opportunity 8
USMLE/ Medical residency 12
How to start business 5
Would like to contribute information about
Job hunting 5
Immigration/visa 1
MAking friends 6
Information about NMU 10
Living in oversea 6
Education opportunity 1
USMLE/ Medical residency 1
How to start business 0
8. About donation/seminar/visiting to NMU:
yes no not sure no opinion
Journal Donation 5 3 3 34
Seminar 8 3 2 33
Visiting NMU 9 36
9. About service from NMU:
Free and fast document service 28
Job information from NMU 13
10 About consulting to NMU
yes 26
no 4
not sure 8
11 About old memorys of NMU
The best thing about NMU:
- nice classmates
- first day in NMU
- good education system
- wonderful library service
- friendship with classmates
- nice anatomy labs and samples
- nice teaching building
- flowers in the campus
The worst thing about NMU:
- not strong enough
- the last year in NMU
- too beaurocratic
- not open enough,slow development
- far away cafeteria from classroom
- no lawn, dusty everywhere
- few campus activities
- terrible cafeteria, long line for food - the rape case in campus
- lack of diversed student life
- too much Friday meeeting
- too much grass uprooting
- too many examinations
- a physical fighting in the school
12. About this survey
yes no opinion
Like this survey? 35 10
Number of questions too many 1
too few 0
proper 34
no opinion 10
___________________________________________________________________
(Contributed by Benquan Shen)
(3) My visit to Nanjing Medical University
Dear NMU fellow alumni,
I came back from China last month after one month vacation in
Nanjing. I visited our home college--NMU and did a genetic diagnosis test
in neurology in our hospital--Jiangsu Province People's Hospital. I also
gave a lecture in the Hospital.
Probably most of you have learnt how great changes have taken
place in our home town. I don't want to waste your time to describe every
change in detail. The only thing I'd like to bring to you is the best
wishes from the head of our college and hospital.
Dr. WU Guan-lin, Vice President of NMU and President of the
Hospital Dr. HUANG Jun, Vice President of the Hospital and Dean of the
Medical College
Dr. WU Guan-lin, Vice President of NMU and President of the
Hospital Dr. HUANG Jun, Vice President of the Hospital and Dean of the
Medical College Dr. WANG Lan-Hua, CPC Secretary of the Hospital all ask me
to bring their greetings to all NMU alumni. They hope that we alumni are
willing to visit and keep connection with our home college and hospital.
Any contribution to the development and progress of NMU and the Hospital
is cordially welcome. We alumni are highly encouraged to do the following
things:
To visit and give lectures;
To provide information and suggestions;
To do cooperative project;
To go back and work there;
...and so on.
I think everyone of us can do something for our NMU and hospital
if he/she
wants to.
Thanks for your attention.
Xin-Sheng DING, (MD, 77)
3. Welcome to Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is the seat of Washtenaw County in southeastern Michigan and is
best known as the home of the University of Michigan. The city, located
on the Huron River and founded in 1823, is named for the wives (both named
Ann) of its two founders and for its natural groves, or arbors. It is about
30 miles from Detroit and three and a half drive away from Chicago and
covers an area of slightly more than 23 square miles.
Ann Arbor is an attractive town of more than 100,000 people. The appreciation
of Ann Arbor's attractiveness does not stem from local loyalty alone: in a
number of surveys conducted by magazines and outside firms during the past
several years, Ann Arbor has consistently been named as one of the nation's
10 best places to live.
Probably no city of its size elsewhere in the United States and, perhaps,
the world, can offer the range of diversions available in Ann Arbor. Some
of Ann Arbor's attractions are sponsored by the University of Michigan, such
as the Botanical Gardens, the Arboretum, Medieval Festival and many cultural
events. Others are unrelated to the University, like the Farmer's Market and
the Ya'soo Greek Festival. Still others are joint ventures, such as the
Summer Arts Festival. Ann Arbor is a regular stop on the touring route of
topflight artists, musicians, theater companies and lecturers.
Almost from its founding, Ann Arbor has been the home of the University of
Michigan; it has evolved into an internationally known center of academic,
research and cultural excellence.
Welcome to Ann Arbor
Contributed by Ning Jin
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4. Career development
(1) How to write a good resume
Writing a good resume and a cover letter as well as doing a good performance
in job interviews are really essential steps, among other job hunting skills,
in finding a job, and are highly regarded in this country. Many a time when
we receive a resume from a friend in China or elsewhere asking us to help
with the job hunting, we might find the need to improve the resume. Indeed,
even we are employed now, we need to keep updating our resumes. A resume
should never be sent without a cover letter, which represents another
important opportunity for you; it's like a personal introduction to the
employer. A well written letter will win you important points toward
getting your interview. The interview is the final step that must be
taken in order to secure the position one is seeking. To help our alumni
in this regard, I'd like to discuss with you some aspects of it. Certainly
there are many books or articles you can read about it. In this issue of
ONMUAA Newsletter, I only would focus on the resume writing. Hope it could
arouse more of your attention to it.
Youcheng Liu, PH78
_____________________________________________________________________________
Writing Effective Resumes and CVs
WHAT IS A RESUME?
A resume is a marketing tool. It is the sum and substance of your work
history, professional experience and educational background, held together
in a coherent way, that points to a particular career direction;
A resume is a passport; it allows you to enter or re-enter the world of work;
A resume should demonstrate credibility and attract interest. Your resume
is like a personal advertisement, it should convince a potential employer
that you are an outstanding candidate for the job and can contribute to the
organization;
The resume is probably the most important document you will write in your
professional life.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE?
For you:
1) to obtain an interview
2) to provide visibility
For employer:
1) to provide a screening device
2) to facilitate the hiring process and find a "fit"
Be aware that the initial review of your resume will take 20 - 30 seconds!
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A RESUME AND A CURRICULUM VITAE?
A CV displays your academic credentials and accomplishments in greater
detail for positions in academia, research and governmental agencies.
It includes additional topics such as papers, publications, presentations,
memberships, etc.
WHAT SHOULD I DO TO PREPARE BEFORE WRITING?
* Clarify your career goals
* Define your portfolio of skills
* Think about which work skills and experience you want to emphasize to a
potential employer
* Review job descriptions for positions that interest you and notice the
words for skills required
* Anticipate what the prospective employer will be looking for in your resume
WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO INCLUDE IN A RESUME?
The main 2 parts of a resume is EDUCATION and PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE.
1. Personal Data
The only required information is your name, address, and phone number. Be
sure to provide both permanent and current address and phone number. You
can add your email address.
2. Career Objective
A brief and concise statement indicating your career goals is recommended
if you have very specific career goals. Otherwise, include your career
objective in your cover letter to a specific employer or for a specific job.
3. Summary of Skills/Professional Expertise A concise statement highlighting
your strongest skills and areas of professional expertise can be an
advantage to you, especially if you have a mix of experiences in career
history.
4. Education
Unless you are more than 5 years out of school, your education section
should precede your experience section. List the names of the institution
attended chronologically in REVERSE ORDER. Give the degree your received
plus the major area of your study. Include special programs from your
university, such as junior year abroad, a six month internship, etc.
Indicate either the degree name (Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Arts)
or the degree initials (Ph.D., B.A.). Indicate the specialization and major
after the degree title. Include the thesis topic in italics if it relates
to your professional goals.
5. Honors and Awards
List any awards or distinctions you received such as dean's list, cum laude,
or Phi Beta Kappa. Include a brief explanation for honors and awards that
are not self explanatory, particularly for international students. Do not
include the GPA (grade point average) unless requested by an employer.
This section can be included in the education section or listed separately.
6. Professional Experience
Work experience should be listed in reverse chronological order with your
most recent experience listed first. Internships and volunteer experience
can be considered in this section if they relate to your professional goals,
or you can create a section called " Additional or Related Experience," or
"Community Service". Your do not need to list every job experience your have
ever had, but your should selectively highlight your most significant ones.
When you describe your work experience, remember to summarize your
accomplishments rather than listing job tasks.
Try to organize the work accomplishments into clusters of related tasks.
Use action verbs:
1) Management and Leadership Skills
trained managed taught
supervised recruited organized
coordinated negotiated increased
2) Research and Analytical Skills
analyzed developed evaluated
investigated documented published
3) Problem Solving and Program Development Skills
designed devised launched
forecast implemented created
Short-termed and similar positions can be simplified in presenting them
together to avoid repeated same job description:
CONSULTANT
Summer 1993 Cooper & Lybrand, Inc. Boston, MA
Summer 1982 Creative Medical Solutions Corporation New York, NY
Summer 1981 American Red Cross Cincinnati, OH
Worked on a variety of health-related projects, using skills in data
collection and analysis, report writing, and questionnaire development.
7. Dates
Make sure that dates are clearly delineated. You can choose to write
dates during semesters such as Summer 19__, Fall__. Also if you worked
for an organization for longer than 8 months, you can just write the year.
8. Additional or Related Work Experience You may want to include this
section if the experience add to your range of qualifications and show
evidence of skills valued by the organization.
9. Publications
List those publications that relate directly to your career goal. Employers
most interested will be teaching hospitals, research organizations, consulting
and international organizations. If you have one or two, include them;
otherwise, create a separate list and indicate the publications are available
upon request.
10. Computer Skills
Only include the special computer skills that are relevant to the position.
11. Languages
If you are fluent or conversant in several languages, list the languages you
speak and/or write as follows: "Fluent in French, proficient in Japanese,
knowledgeable in Spanish." Think carefully about your level of proficiency.
Do not overrate your skills as you may be asked to demonstrate your language
ability during an interview.
12. Interests/Personal
Add one or two lines about your outside interests, hobbies, or travels can
add interesting information to the interview because this information can
spark conversation. Try to choose interests that are unique. Remember to
avoid any information about your marital status, children or age in this
section.
13. Licensures and Certification
If you have a license in a specific field like medicine, indicate it in this
section.
14. Professional Affiliations
List memberships in professional societies that are relevant to your career
goals.
15. References
You can write " References Available Upon Request" if you have space.
Employers will ask directly for references, so be prepared to have a list
on a separate sheet of paper with names, addresses, and phone and fax
numbers. Give careful consideration to your choice of references as some
are more appropriate to an employer than others.
16. Layout and Printing
Keep in mind it should be written concisely, clearly, and free of error.
Use boldface type, underlining, italics, and capital letters to to bring
attention to important headings and information on your resume. However,
be sure these features enhance rather than detract from information. Always
proofread your final draft carefully many times to avoid typos or misspelled
words. Ask a few friends to review the final draft. Use good bond paper in
off-white, ivory, or light grey and have your resume laser printed.
HOW TO CRITIQUE A RESUME?
1. Overall Appearance
Do you want to read it?
2. Layout
Does it look professional, neatly typed, good margins? Do key points stand out?
3. Length
Could you tell the same story if it were shortened?
4. Relevance
Is there any extraneous material?
5. Writing Style
Do any phrases sound clumsy?
6. Action Orientation
Do sentences begin with action verbs?
7. Accomplishments
Are your problem solving skills emphasized?
8. Completeness
Have you included the important information?
9. Specificity
Have you avoided generalities and focused on specific information?
10. Bottom Line
How well does the resume accomplish its purpose of getting the applicant an
interview?
___________________________________________________
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(2) GOOD NEWS FOR NIH GRANT APPLICANTS
I attended an NIAID/NIH Workshop on Grant Related Activities on Dec.3, during
the 45th ASTMH Annual Meeting in Baltimore,Dec.1-5, 1996. The following is
some good news for our alumni who are interested in applying for 1997's NIH
grants/contracts. You may also find detailed news or information from:
http://www.drg.nih.gov (NIH Div.of Research Grants(DRG) homepage)
http://www.nih.gov/grants (click NIH gopher site) or http://www.niaid.nih.gov
1.Budget for all NIH research grants of 1997 has been increased by 6.9%,
compared to this year, totalling $1.26b. For NIAID's field, the actual
percentage is 7.6% up, with 8.8% for AIDS research and 6.4% for non-AIDS
infectious diseases. The budget for 1998-99 is unknown.
2.RFA(Requests For Application) has worked since this year, in addition
to regular PA(Program Announcements) mechanism. That can be a new opportunity
for funding. RFA features a specific research research area defined by
NIH-Institute, with one-time set aside money, limited number of awards and
one-time application receipt date. The application will be reviewed by
special study sections established within NIH-Institute(will save time,
I believe), in stead of standing DRG study sections like regular PA.
3.Electronic application in some research areas, including most NIAID
field, will be initiated Feb, 1997. Electronic processing for applications
has already started.
Contributed by NMU alumnus Liang-feng Tao
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(3) Job opportunity
_____________________________________________________________________________
From: Henry Wei Subject: Job at Biogen
A temporary full time job at BIOGEN, a biotechnology company, is available
immediately. There is a chance to change to a permanent position.
It requires a few years of experience in Molecular Biology. You will screen
cDNA library, Do phage and plasmid DNA preparation and clone new genes.
We offer very competitive salary. Please send your resume AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
to Henry Wei, Biogen, 14 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142 _____________
_________________________________________________________________
5. SOME JOKES RELATED TO COMPUTERS
1) Compaq is considering changing the command "Press Any Key" to "Press Return
Key" because of the flood of calls asking where the "Any" key is
2) AST technical support had a caller complaining that her mouse was hard to
control with the dust cover on. The cover turned out to be the plastic bag the
mouse was packaged in.
3) Another Compaq technician received a call from a man complaining that the
system wouldn't read word processing files from his old diskettes. After
trouble-shooting for magnets and heat failed to diagnose the problem, it
was found that the customer labeled the diskettes then rolled them into the
typewriter to type the labels.
4) Another AST customer was asked to send a copy of her defective diskettes.
A few days later a letter arrived from the customer along with Xeroxed
copies of the floppies.
5) A Dell technician advised his customer to put his troubled floppy back in
the drive and close the door. The customer asked the tech to hold on, and
was heard putting the phone down, getting up and crossing the room to close
the door to his room.
6) Another Dell customer called to say he couldn't get his computer to fax
anything. After 40 minutes of trouble-shooting, the technician discovered
the man was trying to fax a piece of paper by holding it in front of the
monitor screen and hitting the "send" key.
7) Another Dell customer needed help setting up a new program, so a Dell
tech suggested he go to the local Egghead. "Yeah, I got me a couple of
friends," the customer replied. When told Egghead was a software store,
the man said, "Oh, I thought you meant for me to find a couple of geeks."
8) Yet another Dell customer called to complain that his keyboard no longer
worked. He had cleaned it by filling up his tub with soap and water and
soaking the keyboard for a day, then removing all the keys and washing them
individually.
9) A Dell technician received a call from a customer who was enraged because
his computer had told him he was "bad and an invalid". The tech explained
that the computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses should not be
taken personally.
10) An exasperated caller to Dell Computer Tech Support could not get her
new Dell Computer to turn on. After ensuring the computer was plugged in,
the technician asked her what happened when she pushed the power button. Her
response, " I pushed and pushed on this foot pedal and nothing happens." The
"foot pedal" turned out to be the computer's mouse.
11) Another customer called Compaq tech support to say her brand-new computer
would not work. She said she unpacked the unit, plugged it in, and sat there
for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when
she pressed the power switch, she asked "What power switch?"
12) My friend Steve works at a tech support place and the funniest computer
idiot story that he ever told was that of some guy calling them up to thank
the company for putting a coffer holder in his computer. Confused, Steve asked
him what he was talking about and the customer replied that every time he sat
down in front of his computer, he turned it on, booted it up, pressed a
button, and out slid a little tray from the machine that was perfect to set
his coffee down on. Needless to say, Steve put the man on hold and laughed
for a few minutes with his buddies before explaining the concept of a CD-ROM
drive.
Another joke
the joke stars here......
>It seems that this perfect man met this perfect woman and they had a
perfect romance before their perfect wedding, followed by a perfect married
life.
>One December 24 they were driving down the road and they noticed a man
stranded on the side of the road. But this was no ordinary man. It was Santa
Claus. Being the perfect people that they were they offered Santa a ride
because he was in a hurry to get his toys delivered and the children must
be happy at Christmas. So the perfect man and perfect woman sped up to
deliver Santa to his destination on time. But alas, the roads were slippery
and the car got into an accident. The car began to slip and slide, left
the road and did a crash and burn in a ditch.
Sadly only one person came out alive..
Can you guess who it was ?
>>*
>>*
>>*
>>*
>>*
>>*
>>It was the perfect woman.
>>Why ?
>>Because ...
>>Santa Claus and a Perfect Man are both myths.
Julie Olivieri
olivierj@bc.edu
Boston College
Technology Planning & Integration